


Hello

by jae_rhys



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Based on an Adele Song, F/M, Love and Loss, Original Character(s), Past Character Death, Song Inspired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-07-01 10:10:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15771993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jae_rhys/pseuds/jae_rhys
Summary: Kelsey, the love of Jack's life, died several months ago. Since then, he'd sunk into a pit of despair. Until he receives a message.





	Hello

Jack took another drink of his screwdriver. The vodka numbed him, physically and mentally. The orange juice made the vodka palatable. Kelsey had drunk it straight. He never understood how she could when, to him, it tasted like gasoline, but she always was different--special.

 _Kelsey_. 

His gut twisted painfully, and not from the alcohol. 

She had seen something in him no one else had tried to. She’d saved him. Hell, she’d made him feel like he was _worth_ saving. When she died he’d resumed his self destructive habits. 

_Kelsey_. 

Flashing lights. 

_Kelsey_.

Police pounding on the door. 

_Kelsey_.

The emergency room. Bright lights. Beeping monitors. 

_Kelsey_. 

Then a blaring monitor. 

_Kelsey!!_. 

Then it was silent.

Then… no Kelsey. 

She was gone. 

His stomach lurched and he scrambled to the bathroom. The alcohol tasted no different coming back up, and that made it worse somehow. He rinsed his mouth and returned to his chair.

His phone, on the table beside the chair, was lit up. Wondering if one of their old friends had texted him… _how long had it even been since he’d answered?_ he picked it up, but there was no text.

The phone was open to youtube. A video by Adele. _Hello_. Unexpectedly--inexplicably--the video started, not at the beginning.

_Hello from the other side… I must have called a--_

Jack slammed his thumb on the home button stopping the music. Kelsey had loved Adele and having it play was making him feel... _things_ , which is what he was actively avoiding by staying drunk.

_Hello from the other side… I must have called a thousand times… to tell you I--_

‘WHAT THE FUCK?’ he screamed, as he stopped the video again, tears of frustration building. 

_Hello from the other side… I must have called a--_

The video started again, in the exact same place. He stopped it a third time. 

And again, _Hello from the other side… I must have called a thousand times..._

Jack was sobbing now, pleading ‘Stop it, stop… stop…’ This had to be a dream; either way, it was a nightmare. 

When he stopped sobbing, when the tears had ebbed to a trickle, the music started again, starting in that exact spot, but this time the image on the screen was a picture of Kelsey. 

_Kelsey_.

 _’...I’m sorry for breaking your heart…’_ As unexpectedly as it had started, the phone went silent in his hand.

Suddenly he understood.

'Kelsey...' he whispered.


End file.
